Any applicable cartridge. They have a wonderful loading manual. They have most of it on their internet site. I do NOT trust the latter without the former as people can mess with it.

ReloaderFred

December 30, 2007, 07:37 PM

I've been using Lil'Gun in heavy bullet .357 Magnum loads for my carbine. It's working out far better than H-110 or Win. 296 for this application. Outstanding velocities and great accuracy. By heavy bullet loads, I'm talking about 175 to 185 grain cast bullets, with a gascheck. I'll start experimenting with it in .41 Magnum someday soon.

Hope this helps.

Fred

.41Dave

December 31, 2007, 01:12 AM

Thanks for the replies. I tried data.hodgdon.com, but I just get an error message. Any ideas?

GooseGestapo

December 31, 2007, 01:51 AM

Hodgdon's Lil'Gun is as good as it gets in the .357mag.
No experiece with the .41mag.

Hodgdon lists 18.0gr as Max with a 158gr bullet. I use 17.8 as thats what my powder measure throws.

It chrono's at 1,520fps from my 4" Ruger Sec.6
and 2,055fps from my Win. M94 (20"bbl).
Pressures are much lower than equivalent loads with H110/W296.
Cases just "fall out" of the up-turned cylinder of the Sec.6.

This is either with Rem. 158gr SoftPt or Hornady 158gr XTP-HP.

One of the writers for HandLoader frequently lists 19.0gr with a 158. I've tried this and velocity is actually lower and accuracy worse than the 17.8gr load.

Hodgdon Lil'Gun is superlative in the .22Hornet also. I use mostly 12.5gr with 45-40gr bullets, and 13.0gr under a 33gr V-max.

For some reason, going above the listed max loads with the Lil'Gun gives higher pressures, but lower velocities, worse SD, and poorer accuracy. Just why I've forgotten, but when the Lil'Gun first came out, Hodgdon gave a technical explanation to the writer. I've found it to be true, whatever the reason.....

But, this powder is much more "flexible" than the H110/W-296 that it betters for both accuracy and velocity with somewhat lower pressures, IMO.

pinkymingeo

December 31, 2007, 06:31 AM

My experience with Lil'Gun is that it likes heavy bullets and tight crimps. It does not like reduced loads. You'll wind up with unburned powder all over the place. Stay close to published max data.

FLORIDA KEVIN

December 31, 2007, 05:46 PM

funny you mentioned the hodgdon web site ! i tried it today and it asked for a password for access ! never had that before ! i was using a link that was a shotcut ! i will try gong to the home page !

herohog

December 31, 2007, 05:50 PM

Same here... where do ya get a ID/PW?

zxcvbob

December 31, 2007, 06:32 PM

I have 2 pounds of it. The ballisticians at Accurate say it is about 10% slower than #9, and I can use #9 maximum load data as a starting point and work up from there just a little. I haven't gotten around to it yet.

From the tiny bit of load data available -- for any cartridge -- 4100 seems to like heavy bullets. I'm not sure that 158 (.357 magnum) and 255 (.45LC Ruger) cast bullets are heavy enough for optimum performance.

WESHOOT2

January 1, 2008, 10:53 AM

My personal jury is still out on L'IL GUN, as I get significant feedback suggesting less-than-stellar results in certain combinations.

That said, I get reports of great results, too, but not like the across-the-board results with W296 / H110 / AA9 / 2400 / N110.

My 'go-to' in 357 includes 2400 (rarely), H110 (mostly), and AA9.

My 44 Magnum 'go-to' choices include AA9, W296, and H110.

I generally choose AA9 and W296 for 'heavies'.

NOT knocking L'IL GUN, but hard to argue with every-environment-tested-by-time-too W296 and AA9.

Al Norris

January 1, 2008, 04:05 PM

Are you using this (http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp) link to Hodgdons reloading data? Seems fine to me!

As for the .357 Magnum, as said above I also find Lil'Gun works very well with heavy bullets in the .357 Magnum. (170-200gr) H110/W296 still works better with 158gr bullets and lighter IMO. With heavy bullets you get higher velocities with lower pressures without sacrificing accuracy.